Start 1861: I just inherited the Dutch throne

Chapter 24 The first military and political meeting of the Dutch Privy Council
The signing of this bill obviously means that France and the Netherlands have officially announced their alliance. This is a shock to Europe that breaks the balance. It has subtle consequences for the current situation on the continent and even the entire Europe. The change.

Although the Netherlands is small in area, even 1 square kilometers smaller than the Kingdom of Portugal in Southern Europe, the impact of its alliance with France cannot be underestimated.

Especially for the German Confederation in Central Europe, the coastline will be basically completely covered from Denmark southward to Spain, except for Denmark. This alliance is controlled by this alliance and is in charge of the important port routes of sea routes.

Even apart from the British Empire itself, only the lonely port of Belgium is left in it.

For the Baltic countries, this is tantamount to facing a double attack on maritime hegemony. They also need to carefully choose their sides on both sides of the English Channel.

Whichever party you offend will make it difficult to move at sea in the future.

In 1830, the British Empire showed its abominable and evil face and promoted Belgium's independence, but this is still fresh in the memory of Europeans.

It was only when the British Empire's warships sailed directly to Amsterdam that they forced the Netherlands and France to admit defeat without a fight.

But many people did not make any mockery of the Netherlands for such a result.

Because the strategic space of the Netherlands is so small, as small as the cannons on the British Empire's battleships are ignited, they can greatly squeeze the country's living space.

Much of the territory of the Netherlands is almost at sea level, or is low-lying land below sea level.

If a fight breaks out, the Netherlands will also face the risk of the dam bursting on its own territory.

But France is different. France's territory is several times that of the Netherlands, and France's strength is only slightly weaker than the British Empire.

Coupled with the "Mutual Defense Act", that is to say, because the Netherlands had no backup strategic space, France was less wary of each other, and some of the large army troops set up can be withdrawn. These freed soldiers can be used in other countries. Go up to the battlefield.

The sudden appearance of this rear area against Britain is very important for the Netherlands. It is not only facing the British Empire, but Prussia in the east is becoming increasingly powerful. Many people speculate that the Netherlands is also wary of Prussia.

As for what the Netherlands has gained and what it has lost, many people are helping them calculate.

"What can we get? I know many people are thinking about this question. After all, the alliance between the Netherlands and France puts us directly opposite the British Empire. We will have to withstand the possible wrath of the British Empire. Now let me ask you , are you afraid?"

"Not afraid"

“Keep it louder”

"Not afraid not afraid"

"Okay, very good, very good, Prime Minister Tolbeck, please tell us about the situation we are going to face. Let everyone be mentally prepared."

On the left are civilian officials, and on the right are military personnel.

The civil servants are headed by Prime Minister Tolbeck, followed by Interior Minister Jonler, Finance Minister Jan. von Capellor, Foreign Minister Hesbert von, Industry Minister Wem Kot (1829-), Education Minister Lud Bales (1831-).

而军方则是海陆两军总参谋长马克.吕德（1813-）、海军大臣扬.彼得（1820年-）、陆军大臣佩特.德容（1816-）、海军参谋长约瑟夫.卡尔斯（1824-）.，陆军参谋长约普.伊尔（1823-）、以及军备大臣路易斯.贝尔(1833-）。

"Yes, Your Majesty." Tolbeck looked at the figures in the Privy Council in front of him, and his blood boiled in his heart.The Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy, but more than ten years ago, it was still a monarchy, where the king was heaven and the ministers were earth.The king is the world of the Dutch people. Just as it is written in the national anthem "Ode to William", the king is a ruler sent by God, and the subjects must surrender to him and remain loyal.The king is the highest commander of the army. Of course, although the government has him as the prime minister as the highest leader and the highest official in the cabinet, the most recognized leader of the country is still the king. He is at most the king's deputy, just like Mark, the military's chief of general staff. .Same as Lüde.

Another point is that although the Minister of Defense and others are also members of the cabinet, just like other cabinet members here, these people are members of the Privy Council recognized by the king.

That is, it is under the direct control of the king.But by talking directly to King William IV, the Prime Minister still cannot restrain these people, or so the theory goes.

“What we are encountering now is that our country’s population is one-fifth of the British Empire’s, which means we are only equivalent to 5% of the British Empire’s population.

In terms of comprehensive national strength, we are even less powerful than them. Because their industrial development is faster than ours, we are still catching up.

In terms of military affairs, the army is almost the same, but the navy is indeed not on the same level as the UK in terms of ships. The tonnage is not half that of others 9:23.

According to the comparison of strength, the first-class battleships with the most powerful firepower compare with us 10 to 3. The entire army of the British Empire has 60 people, while we have 20.One-third, or more, is our current situation in the Netherlands.”

Speaking of this, Tolbeck was also confused for a while. Why?
Because even now, he still doesn't understand why His Majesty William IV did this, but he won't ask you, because she knows where the boundaries are between what she should know and what she shouldn't know.

"Did you hear that, everyone?" William IV's face has been surprisingly good recently. Even the guards and maids in the royal palace are very curious. I heard that when important national events are approaching, the skin will be bad when the mood is anxious. Has your appetite become smaller? Why is it different when you get to William IV?

"I won't say much about the potential enemies we will face. Everyone knows that the British Empire has become more powerful since it replaced our maritime position, but"

As soon as his tone changed, the smile on his face instantly turned serious. At this time, he felt like the majesty of a king.
"However, we should not belittle ourselves. Although Prime Minister Tolbeck's words are unpleasant and uncomfortable, and they are quite good, don't forget that the British Empire's navy is indeed larger than ours, and its firepower is more powerful and fierce. , but their navy has more places to take care of than we do.

We are relatively concentrated, mainly in the mainland, Guyana, East India, and the South Pacific islands that are currently being rapidly occupied under Lyndon's leadership.Although we will also need to divide our troops to many small islands in the southern Pacific, don't forget that these islands do not need to be fought. We can just send people to garrison them. And although the Netherlands currently only has 20 regular troops, we now also We have learned the military system of Sweden, a powerful country in Northern Europe, which requires all men to serve in the military for two years. Our reserve army has reached 2 people.

In this way, we can put these reserve forces on the islands in the South Pacific, which indirectly saves the dispersion of the regular army. "

"And we have a new secret weapon"

"Secret weapon? I don't know what it is?" The first thing that the Minister of the Navy, Jan Peter, thought of was that this should be for the navy. After all, what I just talked about was the British Empire. What is the most famous thing about the British Empire is naturally the navy. He is so Thinking about it, that’s not wrong.

However, although he just shouted like other colleagues that he is not afraid, he has to say that although he said he is not afraid, in today's world, there is no navy that dares to say that it is not afraid of the Royal Navy of the British Empire. Are they powerful? , as the Dutch Navy Minister, Jan Peter knew it very well, but he didn't understand why His Majesty William IV still looked like he didn't need to worry until now.

Could it be said that we really have a secret weapon that we don’t have to fear from the British Empire’s navy?

In fact, not only Jan Peter, but also other generals such as Chief of Naval Staff Joseph Karls looked at him expectantly.

However, William IV looked at Arms Minister Louis Bell, who stood up knowingly.

"Your Majesty is right, we now have many secret weapons that are enough to make the British and even people from other European countries dare not act rashly.

In recent years, under the leadership of His Majesty, our Ministry of Armament has become very different from what it used to be. Various new weapons have emerged one after another. They have produced many from research and development to now, many of which make us very excited. The first one, It is the epoch-making firearm named by His Majesty himself, the Mauser. This is a breech-loading single-shot gun based on the French Chasepo breech-loading gun and designed with a rotating locking bolt."

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(End of this chapter)